If you live and work in the Washington area, sometimes you need a little reminder of reality. I got that over the weekend in south Texas, where I attended a memorial service for an old friend who died last week.

The reality check came in the form of a discussion a group of women were having after the service. They were comparing and contrasting their Lady Remingtons. I thought it was an odd time to have a discussion about electric razors. They weren’t talking about razors; they were swapping notes on their handguns.

All of the half-dozen women had a weapon or were about to get one. A couple of them had concealed weapons permits (here’s everything you wanted to know about those in Texas, by the way). They talked about trigger pressure, and how often they visited the range, and one of them discussed the closet full of ammo she had (ammo is a lot cheaper if you buy it in bulk, she noted).

If you want to know why gun control in this country is a non-starter, even after the Virginia Tech massacre, you could start with those women. Guns have been a pervasive (and, I might note, safe) part of their lives. Owning a pistol was as natural as breathing to them. Taking away their weapons — some of which had been handed down to family members over generations — would be the equivalent of taking away their history. They’re just not going to stand for that.